


A Mirror Image

by TheSilverFrames



Series: Reformed Daniel AU [4]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Cultist is an asshole, Daniel is having a breakdown, Emotional Baggage, Hurt/Comfort, I really need to stop putting Danny though all this stuff, reformed Daniel AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-05 01:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12179838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilverFrames/pseuds/TheSilverFrames
Summary: Max pushes Daniel over the edge, so he retreats into a bathroom and has a conversation with a familiar face.





	A Mirror Image

Daniel slammed the door to the restroom as he ran inside. His breathing was fast and his fists were clenched tight. Today was  _ not  _ a good day. It was a horrible day. Ever since Daniel had befriended Harrison, Max had made it his goal to make Daniel’s life a living hell. From putting bugs in his bed while he was sleeping to outright making fun of him when David wasn’t around, the boy had become obsessed with the blonde male. David had scolded the young man whenever he caught on to Max’s schemes, but he never listened. Today, Max crossed a line. During one of the activities, Daniel had stood off to the side, leaning against a tree, watching the children while David talked with the campers. Then Max came and stood by him. The next few minutes consisted of him pushing Daniel’s buttons. Daniel ignored him with a roll of his eyes, he’d grown used to the remarks from the campers, Max’s were no different. However, one thing that Max brought up sent him over the edge. “I still find it fucking hilarious that David forgave you so easily. You called him a nobody, tried to fucking kill us and drank your own poison, then again David’s a fucking idiot so I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Max took notice of how Daniel tensed up when he mentioned the ‘Kool-aid incident’ and a mischievous grin spread across his face. “I mean, how the fuck do you screw up that bad? Drinking your own poison! Only a dumbass would do that!” Daniel’s hands balled into tight fists in his pants pockets, his breath sped up a bit, but he didn’t respond. “You know, I actually thought you were smart when I first met you. You had David wrapped around your finger, but then you made the stupidest mistake of poisoning yourself, how do you do something so fucking stupid?”  _ That. _ That’s what sent Daniel over the edge. Without a word, the blonde walked away from the tree he was leaning against and once he was out of sight from Max, he broke out into a spirit towards the counselor's quarters. That’s what lead him to where he was now, standing in the small bathroom provided by the Camp and shaking slightly. He made his way over to the slightly rusted sink and leaned forward, gripping the sides of the dull silver appliance.

Daniel lifted his head to look up at his reflection in the mirror hanging above the sink. The person looking back at him...was a broken man. His face was pale and slightly sweaty. He sighed shakily and hung his head. He needed to calm down and not let Max’s words get to him. “ **_Why did you leave?_ ** ” Daniel’s body tensed and he slowly looked back up at the mirror. A familiar face stared back at him. A  _ very  _ familiar face. A very familiar face that he _ did not  _ want to see. Daniel’s own face hardened and he let out a growl. “Well, when you accidentally drink poisoned kool-aid, have to get your stomach pumped and get stuck in a hospital full of people who hate you, you begin to rethink your life.” Daniel had to force himself to mention the ‘kool-aid incident’. He hated to think about almost dying, the pain, the lack of air, it was  _ terrifying _ . The person in the mirror grinned, tilting his head. “You survived it though! Do you remember how much rat poison was in that kool-aid? Anyone else would have been dead in under a minute, before the ambulance would have even got there!”

Daniel glared at the face in the mirror. “ _ Still.”  _ The blonde spat. “It was pure luck that I survived. Almost dying makes you think some things over, question the choices you’ve made in life and I decided that I don’t want to be a psychopathic killer.” The reflection frowned at him, giving him his equivalent of a puppy-dog look. “ **_But Danny, they were your friends. They depended on you and trusted you. You were the most loyal follower of Zeemoog_ ** .” His voice was very condescending. “Friendships die, like I almost did and you think I didn’t trust them? Hell, I put my life on the line on multiple occasions, almost got arrested several times and not to mention,  _ I killed people. _ ” Daniel growled, gripping the sides of the sink so hard that his knuckles began to turn white. “ **_But you lived, you escaped, and you enjoyed…_ ** ” The reflection muttered, purple drippy eyes burning into Daniel’s bright blue ones. “Yes, back when I barely thought for myself. I felt less like a person when I was in that cult than I ever have since I left. I feel… _ sick _ …about the fact that I actually liked killing…a normal person doesn’t like that sort of thing.”

“ **_What is normal, Danny? What defines a normal person? Murder is definitely not unnatural. It’s everywhere in nature, everywhere. You just hadn’t yet tainted your mind against it, so you allowed yourself to enjoy it._ ** ” The reflection grinned, making more purple liquid spill from his mouth. “Murder may be everywhere, but that sure as  _ hell  _ doesn’t mean it's normal. A predator and prey relationship is a normal part of nature, but a person killing another in cold blood is a different thing altogether.  _ That’s  _ why I feel sick when I think back to everything I did.  _ It. Was. Wrong. _ ” Daniel growled out. “ **_It wasn’t in cold blood, Danny! You were purifying them and helping them ascend!_ ** ” The reflection argued. “ _ Bullshit! _ ” Daniel slammed his fist on the sink, anger and pain leaking into him, before pointing a finger at the mirror. “I’m not as naive as you think I am! It was cold blooded murder and you know it!” He shouted. “ **_It was not! You WERE helping them to ascend! You were bringing them to a better place where there is no negativity! Where everything is peaceful and good! Where they can be happy!_ ** ”

“And what exactly do  _ you  _ know about happiness!?” He barked angrily. “It must not be much if you think about what has to happen to you in order to reach ‘ascension’.” Daniel began to shake in anger as his voice started rising. “I personally had to go through it due to that damned kool-aid incident and let me tell you something a little shocking;  _ Ingesting poison is not pleasant! _ ” He shouted. “Not only could I not breath, but my vision started to slip and my body started burning! The other methods of ‘ascension’ are not very fun either!” Daniel’s hands began to tremble as he tried to contain his anger. The reflection tilted his head again. “ **_What is a very short period time of pain for eternal happiness and pleasure?_ ** ” Daniel slammed his fist down again, harder this time. “In my eyes, no! No, it is not! Eternal happiness may sound fine and dandy at first, but when you remember everything you had to give up in order to get that, everything changes! You have to leave behind your friends, family, your life, everything…  _ It's not worth it. _ ”

Daniel could feel the anger starting to cloud his mind. Pain too, began to seep it’s into his body. Tears started welling up in his eyes, but he quickly forced them down. “ **_So negative. The dark toxins must be getting to you Danny~_ ** ” There it was.  _ That goddamn mocking tone.  _ “Dark toxins don’t fucking exist!!” Daniel reared back one of his fists and, with no hesitation, slammed it into the mirror, causing it to crack slightly, but he felt no pain from it, due to the adrenaline in his system. “If dark toxins exist in your mind then, fine! I probably do have them! After all the shit I experienced in that fucking cult, I wouldn’t be surprised!!  _ Especially after I lost the two people I actually gave a shit about!! _ ” Daniel gasped slightly after the last sentence left his lips, pain and sadness now mixing evenly with the anger and rage. “ **_Oh my~ Am I bringing back bad memories, Danny?_ ** ” When Daniel didn’t respond, the reflection continued. “ **_It was their choice Danny, they wanted to ascend, to go to the place where they could be happy and free of all negativity._ ** ”

Daniel let out a low growl. “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been forced into the cult. They wouldn’t have died if they hadn’t believed all the bullshit that cult said. I wouldn’t have been poisoned if it I hadn’t been forced into that damned cult.” He muttered to himself as many bad memories began to service in the blonde's mind. “ **_That’s was your own fault, Danny._ ** ” Daniel’s head snapped up to glare darkly at the reflection. “ _ My fault!? _ ” He exclaimed. “So it’s  _ my fault  _ that I was forced to join that cult!?” He reared his fist back and slammed it into the mirror again. “It’s  _ my fault _ that I almost died!?” Another slam of his fist, this time drawing blood as the mirror cracked more. “ **_You should have been paying more attention, Danny. Then you wouldn’t have been poisoned. Maybe if you had paid more attention to your parents, then maybe you could have stopped them from dying._ ** ” Daniel felt his whole body tense up. Anger once more clouded his mind, making him slam his fist into the mirror again, cracking it more.

Shards of glass slid into his knuckles, making them bleed. “I couldn’t have stopped them even if I tried!! I wasn’t there when they drank the damn poison!! I couldn’t have done anything!! Don’t you  _ dare  _ imply that I wasn’t paying attention to them!!” Daniel cursed, trembling in anger. “ **_Aww, is little Danny upset because his parents didn’t love him enough to stay alive? How pathetic._ ** ” The reflection’s voice dripped with false pity. Daniel’s breathing sped up, tears began filling his eyes once more, this time he didn’t push them away. “Stop reminding me of them, goddamn it!! If they hadn’t joined that damned cult, then…” Tears started falling down his face as early memories of his parents began to surface. “Then they would’ve still loved me...they wouldn’t have...left me…” The mirror laughed. “ **_Hit a few nerves there, didn’t I Danny?_ ** ” Daniel’s face twisted up in anger and pain. The adrenaline leaving his body, making him start feeling the pain in his knuckles. “ **_What’s wrong, Danny? Did you hurt yourself, again?_ ** ”

“ _ Leave me alone, Cultist!! _ ” Daniel reared back for a final time and slammed his fist into the mirror, the sound of glass falling to the ground filled the room. A good part of the mirror was broken, revealing the wooden back of it, the rest was cracked heavily. Making the reflection staring back at him, slightly warped. Said reflection stared down at him, his face for once showed no emotion. “ **_Fine._ ** ” The blonde looked up at the mirror in shock. “ **_Just remember, you can’t escape me, Daniel. We are one and the same. I am you._ ** ” Cultist glared down at the man. “ **_I’m who you should be._ ** ” With that, Cultist disappeared, leaving behind the actual reflection of Daniel, the broken man. Silence reigned as Daniel stared at his pale, teary-eyed face in the mirror. Then he broke down. Daniel let his hand uncurl from a fist and fall to his side. Blood freely dripped from the various cuts on his knuckles to the floor, making a quite dripping sound. Daniel’s entire body shook and he began to cry.

Why did he have to join that cult? Why did his parents have to join that cult? Why did they believe everything the cult said? Why did they have to die!? Why-! “Daniel?” The man in question jumped in surprise, spinning around to face the person that walked in. His eyes widened upon seeing the man that had entered. “D-David...” The brunette stared at Daniel, then he walked forward slowly. “Daniel...what’s wrong?” The blonde stared back at him for a few seconds. Then, without a second thought, he threw his arms around the other man and shoved his face in his shoulder.. He didn’t care about his dignity at this point, he just wanted to be held by someone, to be comforted, to be loved. David was taken aback by the sudden action, but he recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around the disgruntled male. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay, Daniel.” The man spoke softly, rubbing the crying blonde’s back. “David! David! Oh god, David!” Was all the Daniel could say in between sobs. “I’m here, Daniel, I’m here. Let it out, everything is okay.”

Minutes passed as Daniel stood crying his eyes out in David’s arms, it took him a little while to calm down. Finally, Daniel’s crying died down to sniffling and David gently pulled the man out of the embrace. “Feel better?” He nodded, rubbing his eyes with the back of his wrist. “Daniel, what happened? Harrison said that he saw you run in here looking upset.” Daniel averted his gaze and thought of a response. He didn’t want to tell David about Cultist, the man would think he was insane. Or well, more insane than he already was. “Max...Max said something that...brought up some bad memories and I ran in here to try and calm down. It...didn’t work.” David nodded. “I noticed. What did Max say?” The blonde frowned. “He brought up the,” He shivered. “Kool-aid incident.” David nodded his head understandingly, frowning. “I see, It looks like I’ll need to talk with Max about how to talk to adults, again.” His eyes then shifted to Daniel’s still bleeding hand. “Daniel! What happened to your hand?!” The brunette grabbed his hand gently, looking over the various cuts and pieces of glass sticking in his skin.

“Uh...I...uh...punched the mirror...several times.” Daniel explained sheepishly, looking embarrassed. David looked over Daniel’s shoulder at the broken and cracked mirror. “Oh...Daniel.” David muttered softly, giving the man a worried look. “I was...really upset. I lost control of my emotions. I’m sorry.” Daniel sniffled, not meeting the brunette’s concerned forest green eyes. “Daniel, I’m not worried about the mirror, I’m worried about you. This,” He gestured to the blonde’s bloody hand. “Is not okay, you can’t take out your pain like this. It’s unhealthy.” David explained softly, making Daniel look up at him with a sad frown. “I know...I just didn’t know what else to do.” David put a hand on his shoulder. “Next time, come to me. I’ll help you, okay?” He squeezed his shoulder gently. “You don’t need to be afraid to talk to me.” Daniel stared at the man for a few moments, then he smiled softly. “Okay, David.” The brunette smiled back at him, then gestured to the door. “Now, how’s about we get the glass out of your hand and get it bandaged up?” Daniel nodded his head. “I say, yes.” David kept Daniel’s hand in his and walked with him to the door. “David?” The brunette turned his head to look at Daniel. “Yes, Daniel?” Daniel smiled at him, squeezing his hand. “Thank you…”

**Author's Note:**

> Teh diologe for Cultist is based off an RP I had with Zeemoog-searchhistory on tumblr. Show them some love since they gave me alot of ideas for the Reformed Daniel AU.


End file.
